Recently, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) granted a ‘U’ certificate to Ananth Mahadevan’s Phule after instructing that several caste references be removed. While the Prasoon Joshi-led board has come down hard on one chapter of history, it has cleared Akshay Kumar’s historical drama Kesari: Chapter 2 with no cuts. Insiders tell mid-day that it has been given an ‘A’ certificate, with director Karan Singh Tyagi asked to submit a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Animal Welfare Board for certain sequences.  

The film, also starring R Madhavan and Ananya Panday, chronicles the aftermath of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre as Kumar’s character C Sankaran Nair fights for justice. An industry insider says, “The CBFC’s current approach is haphazard. Kesari: Chapter 2 is a historical drama, so was Chhaava, but both carry separate certifications. If the gore in Kesari is the reason for its ‘A’ certificate, Chhaava’s last half-hour was gory too. That said, one can argue that the makers of Kesari provided historical proof of everything shown in the film.”